A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to wireless networking and more particularly to a system and method for accessing network information using a wireless device (e.g., cell phone or personal digital assistant) in a quick and efficient manner.
B. Description of Related Art
The providing of data services for mobile devices promises to be an area of expansion in the mobile telecommunications arena in the near and long-term future. With the advent of higher-powered mobile devices, and chipsets for cellular communications that can be integrated into virtually any handheld device, cellular data service adoption has the potential for explosive growth. The present generation of cellular devices such as cell phones and handhelds with cellular communication chipsets allows users to navigate to data service “portals” (typically web sites) via simple key presses on the device keypads or though other simple user interface navigation tools.
Connectivity between the mobile device and the data service portal via a cellular network entails the establishment of a “link-layer” protocol. A link layer is the second protocol layer in the OSI Reference Model, above the physical layer and below the network layer. The link layer is generally concerned with procedures and protocols for operating the communications line connecting two devices and detecting and correcting message errors. In order for a mobile device to connect to the data network, for instance the Internet, for data services, the phone and a network peer (typically a Packet Data Serving Node or PDSN) must communicate via a pre-arranged protocol for transport of datagrams over a communications link.
An example of a link layer protocol is the Point-to-Point Protocol, which used in CDMA-based data networks. The Point-to-Point Protocol, known as the PPP, is described in the IETF Request for Comments 1661 document (W. Simpson, 1994), the content of which is incorporated by reference herein. The PPP allows for a negotiation of Link Control Protocol or “link layer” to be established between the mobile device and its peer on a network. This link layer allows for transport of information (i.e., data packets) using standard data communications protocols, such as Internet Protocol (IP).
Mobile subscribers might use their cellular data service for a variety of purposes, such as obtaining information from their favorite web sites, obtaining stock quotes, checking email, seeking sports scores, or accessing news. The service providers have a goal of presenting a favorable experience to the subscriber. For the most part, the service providers strive to provide for their mobile subscribers an experience as satisfying and as similar to that of a wired connection Internet, to the extent it is possible. The better the subscriber's experience is, the more likely the subscribers are to continue, or expand, their use of cellular data services. This translates to more data traffic, leading to increased revenue for the service provider. Considering that data services can be segmented into multiple tiers of service, and bundled as value-added features, data services are a key source of revenue for all cellular providers.
In the current state of the art, the experience of the average data-services user with a mobile device who wishes to connect to a favorite web site or conduct an Internet search consists of the execution of a number of steps. Consider, for example, a user who wishes to search for sports scores for his favorite team, and for simplicity's sake assume that the subscriber wishes to get the football scores for the Chicago Bears. The steps to be performed are, for instance, as follows:                1. Connection to the data network. This is generally established by pressing an “Internet” key on the handheld device.        2. Upon connection, presentation of a “home page” which reflects the set of standard data “events” or “behaviors” that the service provider allows.        3. Navigation from the “home page” to “Sports” section of the home page.        4. The “Sports” section may have subsections of the different sports that the subscriber is interested in, such as football, basketball, tennis, etc. The subscriber must therefore navigate to the football section.        5. The football section allows the user to either select from a predefined set of teams, or allows for the user to input the team. In response, the user is either navigated to a site with the scores or they are provided with the scores that the subscriber was initially interested in.As noted above, the experience when using a mobile device to access sports scores involves a multitude of steps. A similar number of steps would be expected to occur to obtain information as to other types of information, such as navigation to a news page with news stories, navigation to page offering local weather forecasts, etc.        
Consider now the experience using a “wired” computer connected to a network over a land-based communication medium, such as DSL, PSTN dial-up connection or cable modem:    1. The user knows that they are interested in Chicago Bears scores, and therefore goes to www.chicagobears.com. This navigation could be done by clicking on a link to the website in the “favorites” section in their browser, by clicking on a desktop icon providing a shortcut to the website, or by scrolling down a list previously visited sites and clicking on the URL listed there. In any event, the site is typically only one or two clicks away.    2. The user then navigates or scrolls to the section of the page that provides the scores.As is apparent, using existing techniques the user experience in a wired environment is much more efficient and satisfactory than in the wireless environment.
This invention provides for a mechanism by which the user may receive a better experience of cellular data services. In particular, the mobile data services user often knows exactly the desired end-point of the data connection, e.g., a particular web site, at the time they initiate connection to the data network. As described in the example above, the user already knows that he wishes to retrieve the Chicago Bears football scores. In accordance with a principal feature of the present invention, information as to the desired network endpoint (e.g., URL or web address, or abbreviation such as “Bears scores”) is relayed directly to a network node (“event agent” herein) during the process of link establishment. While the link is in the process of being established, this information is extracted by the event agent, translated as necessary to a standard protocol request message (e.g., HTTP Get Request) and the desired web page or other content is requested. When the link is established, the user is immediately provided with the web page they are looking for, without having to execute multiple navigation steps in order to access the information they are looking for. The user's experience of a mobile data connection is far more favorable that it would otherwise be using prior art approaches.